It is a time of fear in the face of freedom, a time of an emptying country and swelling cities, a time for the widening of previous roads and the opening of new paths, yet a time when these paths are mined by knowing algorithms of the all-seeing eye. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection. These are the times when maps fade, old landmarks crumble and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread. Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times.

It looks like game over for the Mitt Romney presidential campaign. Romney, apparently suffering under the delusion that he is still competing for the Republican nomination for President and needs to shore up his right wing support, has chosen congressman Paul Ryan to be his vice presidential running mate. It’s Romney/Ryan 2012.

All across America this morning, people woke up to the sound of their spouses slapping their foreheads as they read the news. It’s a mind bogglingly idiotic move on the part of the Romney campaign, stupid on the scale of John McCain choosing Sarah Palin.

Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign has already been suffering from the perception that Romney is like Robin Hood in reverse. Now, with Paul Ryan as his second hand man, that opinion has been confirmed.

Paul Ryan is the politician who submitted a proposed federal budget that would have completely eliminated Medicare, the program that provides affordable health care to senior citizens instead of simply allowing old people to die in the gutter.

Representative Ryan has declared that asking millionaires to contribute their fair share to the country is “rotten economics”. He has voted to take money away from public schools. He has even voted to cut food aid for children and pregnant women. What’s more, for all his talk about fiscal conservatism, Paul Ryan has voted many times against significant cuts of wasteful military spending.

Paul Ryan has a terrible environmental record, having voted to allow increased pollution from sewage and agricultural runoff in America’s waters, saying that clean water is just too expensive. Ryan has voted to weaken the law the protected the bald eagle from extinction, and has blocked programs to reduce mercury pollution.

The choice of Congressman Ryan as the Republican vice presidential running mate seems likely to alienate the libertarian wing of the Republican Party as well. Ryan has repeatedly voted in favor of extending the Patriot Act without any reforms, and also voted to approve language in the National Defense Authorization Act last year that gives the President of the United States the power to grab American citizens and hold them prisoner for an unlimited length of time without criminal charge. Paul Ryan is no friend of constitutional freedoms.

So, who exactly does Paul Ryan appeal to? He’s popular with economic elitists who care about making lots of money for themselves, regardless of the consequences for other people. That’s what makes for the unofficial motto of the Romney/Ryan campaign: Warning – Deluded Elitists Ahead.

Postscript: I suspect that even the Mitt Romney campaign knows that Paul Ryan is a terrible choice – when it comes to support from voters.

Consider the timing of the announcement. The time from the middle of Friday night to Saturday morning is the time PR professionals know they can announce bad news that they want people forget about quickly – but has to be communicated to a small, interested group.

My guess is that Paul Ryan is being used as a signal and conduit to Republican insiders, in order to provoke campaign contributions and independent expenditures, while voters are presumed to not be paying much attention during the summer weekend, watching the Olympics if they are watching anything at all.

Yea tho I walk through the campaign of boring candidates, he leadeth me beside still worse choices and maketh me to lie down in green parties. I’m sure the libertarians can overlook a few civil liberty sacrifices (demanded by all major candidates anyway) in light of Ryan’s slash and burn approach to entitlements and taxes. But since they are not a decisive bloc, I can only imagine this VP choice will broaden Obama’s lead in the electoral college (which is rather more than he leads national polls).

Mr. Romney still apparently needs to shore up his support with the tea-party branch of his party. Mr. Ryan will be quite devisive to the general electorate with his radical approach to addressing the federal budget. Also, Mr. Ryan’s budget does not actually balance the budget for many years. In addition, Paul Ryan’s record on true fiscal conservatism is questionable given his unwillingness to consider spending for defense.

When it is all said and done, I must still ask Mr. Romney to please allow the voters of America to see his personal taxes for the past 12 years, just as his dad did. His taxes reveal things about his character and sense of fair play. I cannot vote for someone who steadfastly refuses to release his personal tax statements.

I know Ryan is a great choice. If you think he is not qualified then why did yall think obama was qualified. He was only a community organizer and only served in the senate for 2 years, much of which he was running for president. Are you and any libral–left wing–democrat blinded. Yall all probably only watch cnn, abc, nbc and msnbs.

If number of years around equals qualification, then we should all vote Mickey Rooney for President. There’s a difference between being technically capable and having the right policy priorities. And actually, I don’t watch any TV news.

Why don’t you folks just move to Great Britain? They already have socialism there, and have relegated God to the waste bin. Four more years of Lowbama, will have the gangs ruling the streets. And the citizens will have no self-defense what with guns confiscated. There is nothing more treasonous or demonic than Lowbama supporters.

Does anyone besides “Lazarus” really believe it will happen? Does Lazarus him/herself even believe it? I’d be surprised.

It’s amusing to watch people insist on polarization now that an election is coming closer. If you criticize Mitt Romney or Ron Paul, why, you must be an Obama supporter, and “Obama” is no longer enough: why, you must add a prefix or suffix.

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